New York State of Mind
by Rikkacchi
Summary: Cover by まさち. Miku's in the Big Apple for Miku Expo! But can she survive schedules, her family, and English wherever she turns?
1. Off to a Bad Start

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first published fanfiction on this site. Read and review!**

"Your luggage, Miss."

Miku smiled under her curly brown wig. "Th-thank…you," she said forcedly, wondering if he could see through her disguise and faked American accent, then took her bag while stepping off the plane.

Sighing with relief, she fixed her wig. Here she was in the United States. Again. But the last time she was here was so brief—this time, she would be staying much longer, in a more established manner. Two concerts—one where she had landed in—New York, and then she'd have to endure the stress of flying again to Los Angeles.

She flew all the time, but being the chatty way Americans are, she hated answering questions and being directly spoken to by employees.

It was because of her absolutely dreadful English. She couldn't help it, she'd been singing in Japanese for seven years, since her creation, and she could hardly handle short bursts of Engrish in her Japanese songs.

Rubbing her sweaty forehead, Miku walked through the airport looking for the twins. Her forehead was also wet from the heat of the wig. That thing had taken hours to get on with all the hair she had, but it was worth it. She didn't want to be attacked by screaming fanboys, only to bow her head embarrassed and squeal "I—I don't understand English very well!" and then kick herself for bowing. Americans don't bow. Why couldn't she just be more American?!

"ONEE-CHAN!"

Miku was tackled from both sides by the blonde twins. True to their names, Rin was clutching her right arm and Len was holding her left. The three were separated on the plane, and because of their clingy manner the twins must have been very Onee-chan deprived.

Miku cleared her throat and said in her best American accent, "Where is…Ru…roo…loo…Luka-nee?"

Rin looked up from the arm she had grabbed and giggled at Miku's English.

"S-stop!" she said, pulling her arms out of the twins' grips and covering her now red face. "You two know I'm sensitive about it!"

"Luka-nee, Meiko, and Aniki are still on the plane, arguing about who has the best American accent," Len explained.

Rin laughed. "Good thing you got off the plane before they did, Onee-chan!"

Miku couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her bag and made a run for the exit, WAAAAAAAHHH-ing the whole way.

Rin crossed her arms after snickering at her Onee-chan's sensitivity. "It's dumb any of us have to speak English anyways. We didn't get famous using it, did we? So why is it necessary?"

Len grabbed the bags they had left when they had tackled Miku. "She didn't have trouble speaking Indonesian last year," he noted.

"Huh. English has always been hard for her."

Len nodded and scanned the airport to see if the older Vocaloids had gotten off the plane. While doing that he noticed a certain, curly brown wig not too far from the exit.

Miku ran and ran, all the way away from the airport, dragging her bag and herself right into the entrance of the city itself.

"MMMIIIIIIIKKKKUUUUUUU!"

In the blindness of her tears, Miku did not notice that her wig had flown off and now her long teal hair that was inconveniently recognizable dropped to her feet.

But when she heard a chorus of screams, she felt her head and came to that conclusion and began to run, but even her great and nimble speed could not outrun a fan's screaming devotion.

"Miku, I love you!"

"Miku, you're so kawaii!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"Hey everyone, it's Hatsune Miku!"

Miku ducked to hide her face and said, "I—I'm sorry, I cont…I cont…I can't speak English very well!"

The crowd stopped yelling for a moment, and in incredible unison, wailed "Kaaaawwwwwaaaaaiiiiiii~!"

Miku covered her face, and pulling her bag along, ran past the mob. I have to lose them and hide, she thought.

As she was running, Miku's eye caught sight of a yellow American taxi.

"Ta-tack—tack- _zeee!"_

She waved frantically, hoping and praying to every Kami-sama in the universe, _please stop, please stop, please stop…!_

It did, skidding in front of her at such suddenness that dirty water was splashed all over her clothes.

Ignoring that, she got in and threw her bag in the backseat. "The Golden Hotel!" she said hastily. The driver didn't start.

"The Golden Hotel!" she said again, thinking he didn't hear her. The crowd had stopped running after her and began to disband, knowing it would be futile to chase after a car.

The driver of the American taxi then held out an expectant hand. Miku didn't understand at first but then fished around in her pocket and pulled out five hundred yen then put it in the man's hand.

He kept his hand out and inspected the coins.

"What am I supposed to do with Chinese money in America?"

Miku almost banged her head against the window. She was so un-American she wanted to die of shame. But she had to get to the hotel, someway. Meiko was going to rent a van for the six Vocaloids but Miku was so far away from the airport now she couldn't find her way back there or to the hotel they would be staying in for the duration of their trip.

"Please!" she begged in English, adrenaline making her speak fluently. "I'll pay you back in American money later!"

Of course that was probably impossible but the driver pulled back his hand and put the money in a cup shaped hole in the car where dollar bills already sat.

"Well, you are cute, so I guess I can make an exception."

Miku sat in uncomfortable silence with this much older man, avoiding his gaze in the mirror but happy to be on her way to the hotel. She'd probably get there before her family, so she could pick out her bed first. Actually, she thought, I can't sign in without Meiko. I'd better wait for her outside the building. I hope she doesn't take too long. I need to change.

And now the idol did bang her head against the window cursing her accent.

 **Sorry for the fast beginning! I will try to get deeper into characters in later chapters.**

 **Here's the basic Japanese vocabulary:**

 **Onee-chan...older sister**

 **Kawaii...cute**

 **-nee...honorific used after names meaning older sister**

 **Aniki...older brother, a term used by boys only**

 **Onii-chan...older brother**

 **Nee...hey**


	2. Setlists and Gift Baskets

**A/N: Here's chapter two! I'm trying to keep it enjoyable and lighthearted. Please review!**

"What did you two say to your Onee-chan?"

The twins' cheeks puffed up and they began to pout. "Why do you automatically assume _we're_ the reason Miku's gone?!" Rin protested. "She could've been kidnapped!"

She was looking up at Meiko, who, in front of Kaito and Luka in some sort of gang pose looked pretty intimidating. Rin almost expected Kaito to pound his fist in his hand and Luka to draw a finger across her neck.

"But it was you, wasn't it?"

"Onee-chan's just overly sensitive about her English!" Len said, putting his hands out as if to say 'it's not our fault.'

"Hah! So you admit to saying something to her?"

"Maybe!"

"You know she's probably lost in the city now, crying her eyes out until three scraggly men corner her in an alley…" Meiko reached out slowly to the teens, "with their hands out like demons as they slowly approach her with a hungry look in their eyes, whispering 'Ranbara, ranbara…"*

"Meiko-san!"

Luka put her hand on the older woman's shoulder. The blondes were clutching each other with tears in their eyes and frightened looks on their faces.

"You're going to scare them to death!"

Meiko looked shocked for a moment, dropped her hands then laughed and waved her them embarrassedly. "I'm sorry, kids, I got carried away, please don't cry—"

"WE HAVE TO SAVE ONEE-CHAN!"

Rin and Len grabbed their bags and started running to the exit where Miku's wig still sat, looking limp and quite sad.

"Meiko-nee!" Rin called over her shoulder. "Hurry up! We have to get the car and then search for Miku!"

"Kids!" Meiko reached a hand out to them and then sighed.

"If I may speak—" Kaito began.

"No!" Meiko whacked him with a hard hand. "You may not!"

" _ONEE-CHAN!"_

Again Miku was suddenly tackled by two people with the same face and opposite gender.

"Are you okay?" Rin looked the older girl over, noting her dirty clothes.

"Of course I am," she replied. "Did you and the adults get the car and drive here?"

"Yeah. But Meiko-nee almost killed us because she kept driving on the wrong side of the road. All we gotta do now is park, sign in, get our set list, pick up our costumes, go down to the Hammerstein Ballroom to rehearse…actually, that's a lot."

"I'm just glad we're here now."

"Meeeee toooooo." And they snuggled closer.

…

"Hello, we're the Shion family, and we'd like to check in."

"Ehhh?! You finally married Onii-chan, Meiko-nee?"

Meiko leaned down and whispered behind her hand. "Look, kids, I said that me and Kaito are your parents so we could get the family deal. And what's with you saying 'finally'?!" she slapped Len.

Len rubbed his face. "You're cheap, Onee-chan."

Meiko crossed her arm then straightened up again. "Hey, checker-inner, did ya hear me?"

Luka put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll take care of this, Meiko-san."

And the pink haired woman amazed the five other Vocaloids with her amazing English.

"Uwah~! Luka-nee's amazing!"

Meiko pouted. "I thought my accent was understandable enough. That desk man must just be stupid."

They all silently nodded to avoid the red lady's wrath.

"I got the set list! It came in the mail a few minutes before we arrived."

"I got the gift baskets that were left at the door!"

"I got Onee-chan's wig!"

"I got…the luggage…"

Kaito almost collapsed under the weight of the many bags that were stacked on his back by order of Meiko. With a huff of air, he dropped them on one of the beds and then sank into a nearby chair.

"Look at these songs we're singing! Wanna hear them?" Rin waved the papers in her hand.

Four Vocaloids turned to her with anticipation on their faces. The fifth let out a strange gurgling sound.

"Sharing the World is first—"

"WHAT?!" Miku, now in dry clothes, started pulling her hair in worry. "I don't wanna sing that song! It's hard and…and…IT'S IN ENGLISH!"

"Man, I'm just doing Kokoro and Melancholic again. I do that every time now! I remember the good old days when I sang Daughter of Evil and the band would get so into Meltdown with me…Oh, Len, you're doing Fire Flower and Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder. Without me. AGAIN."

Len sighed. "I liked performing Spice and Servant of Evil. It was really strange to see so many people crying in one room."

Rin nodded. "It was like a musical with such an intriguing story!" She looked down at the list again.

"Hey Luka-nee, guess what? They're bringing back Just Be Friends!"

The pinkette clasped her hands together. "Really?"

"In English, though."

Luka looked disappointed. "The English lyrics are so much less poetic. But less cold-hearted too, so I don't mind."

"Onii-chan is doing Pane dhira and Meiko-nee is doing Piano Forte Scandal."

"Same old, same old, I guess."

"Oh, and Miku, you have the same songs except no Rolling Girl. They replaced it with Glass Wall. It's supposed to make everyone cry."

"No Rolling Girl? That song makes me cry! That's seriously the deepest song I have. You and Len are the best actors, so you get all the meaningful songs… Do you have the lyrics for Glass Wall? I wanna see if it's a fair replacement."

Rin shuffled through the papers. "Here are the lyrics for all the English songs."

"It's in English?! Wait, lemme read that. 'Do you see me, the pixels on your screen, my voice that reaches you, blah blah…I would sing out my heart…then it says in all caps 'DUBSTEP.'"

"Crypton is really pushing us to appeal to Americans, huh?"

"Mmm."

All six sat in silence for the next few minutes, tired from the flight and thinking hard about what needed to be done in the next two weeks.

 ***This is a reference to the song In a Rainy Town Balloons Dance with Devils.**

 **New vocabulary:**

 **-san...honorfic used at end of names for general respect**


	3. Miku and the Twins

**A/N: I know the most demanded of my stories is Normal Trash. I'm working as fast as I can on it, promise!**

"So I guess some of us have to share rooms, huh?"

Even with the family package of a room with three bedrooms, the maximum for a hotel suite in New York, there was not enough room for the Vocaloids to sleep separately.

"Well, if there are three rooms and six of us, that means two to a room," Meiko commented.

"The beds are queen-sized," observed Luka. "So it won't be too bad."

"But for a whole two weeks?" Rin shook her head.

All six Crypton vocalists stood in the master bedroom.

"How are we going to decide who sleeps with who and in what room? They're all different."

"Simple, Miku," Meiko put her hands on her hips. "You, Banana Boy, Bunny Rabbit and Engrish Lady will sleep in the second biggest room.

"Ehh?! Four people in one bed-"

"…and Bakaito will sleep in the smallest, while I, your beautiful Onee-chan will stay in here."

"But Mei…"

"Nope! You five are kids. I am an adult. Therefore I get the master suite."

Luka put her hands out. "Meiko-san, how about the twins staying with Miku in the adjacent room, you and Kaito-san in here, and me in the smallest room? That way, the kids can stay with their Onee-chan and when room service comes in they won't be suspicious. After all, you told them that you and Kaito are married. Shouldn't the parents share the master suite?"

Meiko looked about ready to blow. "And you're the one that profits, being all alone!"

Luka crossed her arms. "I'm in the smallest room, the farthest from all bathrooms, alone without a window."

"I understand," the red lady admitted. "I just don't wanna share a bed…" she pointed scornfully to poor Kaito, "…with THAT guy."

"I'll keep my pajamas on," he offered.

Meiko sighed then walked out of the room with "I'm gonna go take a bath, kids."

Rin and Len couldn't help but giggle.

….

"Our first night in New York!"

The female Kagamine squealed and hugged her stuffed animal Usagi. "It'll be like a sleepover every night with Onee-chan in here!"

Miku nodded but thought bitterly that the fun wouldn't last. They'd get to have fun the first week but the last would be work, work, and more work. And with her big chaotic family, she might not survive the easiest part.

 _Maybe not even the first night._

"I call the left side!" Len threw himself on the side nearest the room service button and bathroom.

"No way, Banana Boy!" Rin pushed him off and curled up with Usagi in the spot. "Ha-ha, Len looks like a girl with his hair down."

"Shut up!"

Miku was putting the clothes they packed into the dresser away from the argument. She noticed Rin didn't have any except her pajamas and a day outfit with her bow. _She probably left her bag, or something. She can just borrow my clothes or Len's._

"You know, Rin, Len, you two look almost exactly alike with no accessories or anything."

"You callin' me masculine?"

"Are you saying I'm feminine?"

Miku turned to look at them. "No," she said. "It's like you're both an indeterminable gender until you start talking, when you're in your night clothes."

"Well, you look like Luka-nee with your hair down!"

"I-I wasn't trying to be offensive."

Len got up from the floor and put himself as far away from Rin as possible on the bed.

"Nee, this works out! Onee-chan can be in the middle!" Rin patted the middle of the bed. "Hurry up!"

Times like this, Miku almost felt like a mother of some sort. Not the kind Meiko was; disciplinary in an unforgiving yet concerned way, but a kind of 'let me take care of everything, kids' kind of way. Even though the twins were only two years younger, when Miku was with them by herself she felt years older and more responsible.

 _They're hopeless._

"Okay, I'm done," Miku crawled to the middle of the bed and tucked herself in. "Comfy?"

"No," Rin lay on her side. "I wanna tell scary stories!"

Len stuck out his tongue, facing Rin's side. "You tell awful scary stories."

"Well, you tell awful tragedy stories!"

"No I don't!"

"They're so cheesy they _smell_. A cross-dressing servant who gets decapitated? A dude who marries a bird? Two kids who went to the trouble of sending paper planes when they could've just, I don't know, talked?"

"What about all your scientifically impossible and totally not scary stories? A dog brain in a human? A girl who chops off hands and puts them in pots? What the heck?"

"CHEESEBALL!"

"BLONDIE!"

" _Shhhhh!"_

Miku poked the two. "You're gonna wake everyone else up! And get some sleep; we have to get up early tomorrow."

Rin and Len shut their mouths and turned on their backs.

Miku sighed and pulled the covers up to her neck. She closed her eyes and began to think about hiring an English tutor.

"I'm sorry, Onee-chan!" the twins gushed in unison.

 _Dang it._

"It's okay," she waved her hand. "Just go to sleep."

"…will you tuck us in?"

 _Sigh._

….


	4. Self-pitying Meiko

Meiko made a mental note to drink extra tomorrow night.

 _Kaito's feet are cold as hell._

She decided to sleep in her clothes that night; the black tee and jeans she wore since they got on the plane to New York. The only pajamas she had were some sexy nightgowns she liked to wear in the confines of her room. She would never, ever wear them in front of anyone in the family, especially Bakaito. Man, she'd rather Len walk in on her posing in the mirror with those on than that guy.

"No…it's my ice cream…"

Kaito just _had_ to talk in his sleep.

And her day clothes were _so_ _damn tight._

Meiko knew she needed her rest more than any of the kids or Kaito. Yes, she wasn't a mainstream idol anymore with calls and work every day, but that was easy. When she was Miku's age she was as busy as she was. Famous, demanded, pressured. But now she was past that point of time and in the midst of real world responsibilities. She, Meiko, was the mother of this family, _she_ had to take care of them, _she_ handled the money, bought the clothes, booked the concerts, taught them discipline, that you can't always get what you want, tried to prepare them for real life, cooked for them, encouraged them…all without support! Kaito was just the same as he was twenty years ago! He was just as bad as the kids and needed as much discipline and never got reprimanded for it! _She_ , Meiko, had to take of everything because nobody else would!

And the kids wondered why she drank so much.

'You're mean, Onee-chan, you're cheap, Onee-chan…'

She really only wanted what was best for them. Maybe one day they'd appreciate it. One day…

Self-pitying and frowning Meiko fell asleep as far away from Kaito as possible.


	5. Luka-nee Watches TV

**A/N:** Darn this is short. It's because I update so quickly on this. SORRY XD I feel like this story is better with short chapters though, because it's light-hearted. unlike others COUGHCOUGH

Luka was alone but not lonely.

After taking care of her luggage, she got into her pajamas and watched TV until midnight. She, proudly, could understand these American programs and enjoyed them, with the exception of some weird ones. She watched reality shows, game shows, the news and some cartoons. At home she didn't watch much television, maybe some anime with the kids. They were all so silly. Len was obsessed with Pokémon and Dragon Ball. Too much action. Rin and Miku liked shoujo and watched Magical Madoka and Sailor Moon. Too cheesy. Even her elders watched anime, Meiko watching Death Note and Black Butler (way too disturbing) and Kaito watching Naruto and Sword Art Online (no thanks). She tried all of these genres and didn't prefer any. She expected American cartoons to be about the same.

But American TV in general was strange.

Even her almost fluent understanding of English didn't have some of the words they said in the late night shows. But from the expressions accompanying them they must have not been very nice ones. The reality shows were shameless and displayed the most private of moments. Luka didn't like this but the cartoons were funny.

The news was a lot of arguing and clashing of values. Americans were independent and really stand up for what they thought, she concluded.

Just watching American television had immersed Luka into their culture like never before! At home she read American books, watched American movies but studying at home was nothing like being there.

She really, really hoped they could come back again.


	6. Engrish!

_The next morning…_

"Ruumu serubisu, negi o kudasai."

"Onee-chan, room service doesn't speak Japanese."

Miku kicked herself and mashed the intercom button. "Umm…I mean…uh…"

She snapped her head to the twins. "How do I order in English?"

All three were still in bed, Miku leaning over Rin to get to the button. Len tapped his chin. "Uhh…I think it's 'May I have…' and then what you want."

Miku turned her head back to the wall. "May I have negi?"

"What do you want?"

The intercom spoke back!

"May I have negi?"

The poor room service man, who had been dealing with ice cream lovers, drunks and expensive seafood women figured this was yet another Japanese person and said what he had repeated many times before: "Sorry, the only Japanese item on our menu is rice wine."

Miku's face turned to a look of horror and thought hard about what to say. "Then… May I have…"

"Two oranges, not peeled, two bananas, peeled, and a bowl of white rice." Surely Americans had white rice.

"Okay."

Miku sighed in relief.

"Nee, your English is getting better!"

"You think so, Rin?"

"Yep!"

The blonde had gotten up and was rummaging through the dresser. "Hey…"

Miku waved her hand. "Oh yeah, I meant to tell you that you left your bag at the airport."

Rin turned around sharply and flailed her arms in the air dramatically. "WHAAAT?! All I carried by hand were my pajamas and day clothes! And those are in the washing machine!"

"You know, you can just wear my clothes."

"All your clothes are too big!"

"Then wear Len's. If you put your bow and clips on, you won't look like a boy."

Rin started to cry. "But…" she hiccupped. "It's New York! I wanted to walk around glamorously like a celebrity and bring Japanese fashion to the West and have people point and me and say 'Wow, she's so unique and foreign!' and…"

She rambled on for the next few minutes while Miku sat on the bed listening and feeling awful and Len refusing to get up.

"…but…but…instead I have to walk around in…BOY CLOTHES!"

Rin sank to the floor and sobbed.

"U-uh, don't worry Rin, I'll take you shopping at a real nice Lolita fashion shop I saw on the way here, and we'll have you change into those ASAP and then we'll go look around and maybe shop some more! How's that sound?"

She wiped her eyes and sniffed. "O-okay, I guess…"

Suddenly her mood changed and she went from miserable girl to grinning idiot. "LEN! Get up and give me your most gender-neutral clothes!"

"AH! OKAY, JUST STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT PILLOW!"

She smirked triumphantly and put it down. "Good boy."

Len groaned and got out of bed. He could fit his clothes in a single drawer, unlike Miku who took up the rest of the enormous dresser.

"Let's see here…I have a black shirt and some loose jeans. Is that okay?"

Rin started to grin mischievously again. "Yes, Len, that's just _perfect._ Oh, and do you have an extra hair tie?"

"Um, yeah, I think I—wait a minute, what…"

Rin waved her hand. "I just wanna try a new hairstyle today."

He eyed her suspiciously. "…Okay. Well, have fun today; me and Kaito are going on a tour ship today. We're gonna see the Statue of Liberty! And no girls are allowed!"

"Len, you need some guy friends. Onii-chan does not count as one."

"Whatever! Plus, I'm too young to go on the tour without an adult. Meiko and Luka are going shopping today. But tomorrow I'm sightseeing with Onee-chan~!"

"Gosh, shut up and get out already Len!" Rin shoved him out the door. "We're having a fun girl's day out that doesn't include you!"

Miku raised a finger. "Uh, Rin, what do you plan on doing with Len's hair tie…?"

Rin laughed goodheartedly. "You'll see!"


	7. Rin Cosplays

**A/N: I HAVE NOT POSTED IN A MILLION YEARS I AM SO SORRY GUYS OMG. Here's the next chapter for New York and hopefully I can find the motivation to add to my other ongoing stories. I also made a DeviantART! /Julieanna-Rae**

 **Check it out yo, and please forgive my absence!**

"Those oranges were gross. Your rice didn't look too good, either."

"Stop changing the subject, Rin!"

"Rin? Oh ho ho, dear Onee-chan. I am Len."

She took it too far this time, dressing up as her brother and going into town.

"If Len hears about this he'll be livid."

"Whatever. We're practically the same person; look at it as cosplaying!"

In New York, a sixteen year old pop star wearing a secure black wig and a fourteen year old singing celebrity dressed as her singing celebrity twin were walking in the square.

"Not a lot of people will know who you are, Rin. America's Vocaloid fanbase is spread out."

Rin snickered. "You saw those fanboys of yours, Onee-chan. There are probably twice as many fangirls for Len."

Miku shut up, depressed about her popularity being less than Len's.

"OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU LEN KAGAMEEN?"

Rin frowned and started to correct the screaming girls who were walking behind them, but then brushed it off and put her hands on her hips. "Why yes, yes I am."

"Oh, you're so cute! I love Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder, it's like, my favorite song!"

The girl talking spoke so quickly that Rin's linguistic part of her brain went into overdrive.

Girl #2 spoke up and froze the never-stopping city.

" _That's such a realistic cosplay of him, too!"_

Miku took a few steps back.

Rin thought fast. They didn't believe her! Oh wait! She knew!

She took her hair tie out and struck a girly pose. "Yep! Pretty realistic, huh?"

Now, her plan was for the American girls to say, "OMG! Rin Kaga-meen!"

It never happened, though. They didn't respond, and began to finger their purses. "Uh, good talking to another Vocaloid fan," Girl #2 said.

"Yeah," Girl #1 nodded quickly. "It um…must take a lot of guts to cosplay in public like that…"

"Well, we have to go meet with our…boyfriends…"

They turned and shuffled away like penguins until they were a safe distance away and started to run.

Miku patted Rin on the back. "Oh Rin, I'm sorry."

"Why did they run?" she put her hands out and sobbed.

"I think that they thought that you were trying to seduce them or something with your pose. New York isn't very safe, you know."

"But they really thought I was a boy! Am I really that masculine?!"

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"NO!" Rin cried some more.

 _But you said it was like cosplaying, anyway, so…_

Miku continued to rub the blonde's back while thinking of what the rest of her family was doing.


End file.
